Sweet and hot pepper plants belong to the genus Capsicum which is part of the Nightshade family (Solanaceae). Capsicum species are native to South America, Middle America and a part of North America, where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, and are now cultivated worldwide. Several of the members of the Capsicum genus are used as spices, vegetables, and/or medicines.
The species Capsicum annuum L. is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated Capsicum species (Capsicum annuum, Capsicum baccatum, Capsicum pubescens, Capsicum chinense, Capsicum frutescens). It may comprise several cultivar groups among which bell pepper (also named paprika) is the most commonly grown in northern Europe and the USA. Bell pepper fruits are eaten raw, cooked, immature and mature and may be processed into powders, sauces, and salsas. The fruits are mostly green in the immature stage, but during ripening they become red, yellow, orange, purple or brown. Sweet pepper may comprise any pepper plant, such as bell pepper plants, having mild non-pungent fruits. Pepper plants can be cultivated in the open field, greenhouse, tunnel or shade house under a wide range of climatic conditions, but they perform best in warm and dry conditions.
Flavor is an important quality parameter for fruits and vegetables. External qualities such as color, texture and shape are relatively easy to evaluate by both producers and consumers. The evaluation of flavor attributes, however, is more complex. Flavor is the sensory impression of a substance. The flavor of food, as perceived during consumption may be defined as the overall sensation provided by the interaction of taste, odor (which may also be indicated as smell, fragrance or aroma), mouthfeel, sight and sound. Mouthfeel, sight and sound are physical or indirect senses, which influence taste and smell, and therefore influence food acceptance. The remaining sensations are responses of the chemical senses and can globally be divided into two groups, i.e. compounds responsible for taste and compounds responsible for odor. Compounds belonging to the first group are mainly non-volatile at room temperature and interact with taste receptors in the oral cavity and especially on the tongue. Compounds belonging to the other group are volatile and are perceived by the odor receptors in olfactory cells in the nasal cavity. The odor of food can be smelled both when it is outside and inside the mouth. When we have food in our mouth odor molecules can easily travel from the mouth to the odor receptors in the nasal cavity via the connection between the throat and the nasal cavity. This type of perception of flavors is called retronasal sense of smell.
Although the flavor of some fruit crops, like tomato, strawberry, peach or melon, has been researched extensively, only a limited amount of research has been performed on the flavor of fruits of Capsicum species. Research on pepper fruit flavor has mainly focused on the characterization of volatile and non-volatile component variation in cultivated and/or wild species. However, correlations between flavor components and sensory evaluations by taste or odor panels are generally missing.
Pepper fruits are commonly used in the diet because of their typical colors, pungency, taste and/or distinct aroma. Pepper fruits are eaten fresh or processed, as unripe (green or white) or ripe (e.g. red, yellow and orange) fruits. In the breeding of pepper, the factors production and quality (e.g. shelf life, firmness and disease resistances) are of main interest. However, since consumers have become more critical, attention in pepper, like in tomato, is shifting towards flavor as an important quality parameter.
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